Tarte aux apricots

This tart really looks good in the picture of Paul Hollywood's 'How to bake' book. If I knew how long it took to make and what the end result was, I wouldn't have started it.

Don't get me wrong, taste wise it's great! However, the fresh apricots in the crème pâtissière don't really work. It is difficult to cut the apricots, even if they are ripe, and although the crème pâtissière was thick, it still made quite a mess when the tart was cut as it just came pouring out.

I don't know... I either didn't get the crème pâtissière's thickness right or there is something that needs changing in this recipe.

Serves: 8 portions.

Ingredients:

• For the sweet pastry:
• 215g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 25g ground almonds
• 120g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
• 55g caster sugar
• 2 eggs: 
• 1 for making the pastry
• 1 for egg wash (beaten with a splash of water)
• For the crème pâtissière:
• 100g sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 40g cornflour
• 500ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod (the recipe called for 2 but that would make the vanilla overpowering)
• 40g butter
• 2 tbsp amaretto (Paul calls for Kirsch but I don't use that so I used amaretto)
• For the apricot filling:
• 10-11 ripe apricots, halved and stoned or tinned apricots well drained
• To glaze:
• 2tbsp apricot jam
• 1 tbsp amaretto
• icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Equipment: 23cm pie dish.

Method:

1. Make the sweet pastry:
1. Stir the flour and ground almonds together in a large bowl. Then add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like crumbs. Stir in the sugar. My dough wasn't that crumbly and I started worrying that that were almonds in this pastry, thinking back on the rhubarb, vanilla and lattice pie I had had a nightmare with a few days ago...
   
   
   
   
2. Break in the egg and work into the mixture with your fingers, bringing it together to form a soft dough. I was worried as my dough was quite wet so I added a bit more flour. The amount I mention above already includes this extra flour.
   
   
   
   
3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Flatten with your fingers to a disc and wrap in cling film.
   
   
   
   
4. Chill for at least 3 hours before using.
2. Make the crème pâtissière:
1. Whisk the sugar, egg yolks and cornflour together in a bowl until smoothly combined and set aside.
   
   
   
   
2. Pour the milk into a pan. Split the vanilla pod open, scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife and add these to the milk with the empty pod. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Remove the vanilla pod.
   
3. Pour about ¼ of the hot milk onto the egg mixture, whisking as you do so, then return this mixture to the rest of the milk in the pan. 
4. Put back onto a gentle milk and cook, stirring continuously, until the crème pâtissière becomes thick.
5. Immediately stir in the butter. Paul asks for sieving the mixture before adding the butter but I was fairly confident about my whisking and that there were no solid particles in the mixture. Also, I did not want to loose any vanilla seeds.
   
6. Lay a disc of baking parchment directly on the surface to prevent a skin forming. I did not need to do this as I used a closed container.
7. Leave to cool and then chill before using.
3. Butter and flour the pie dish.
4. Roll out the sweet pastry on a lightly floured surface to a large round about 3mm thick. Don't worry if it crumbles or breaks on the first roll - just press it together and re-roll. Use the pastry to line the pie dish, leaving the excess pastry hanging out over the edge. Chill for 15-30 min. Again, I was worried as there was almond in the dough however, I managed to roll it at the second attempt. Less almonds in the dough makes a huge difference!
   
   
   
   
5. Prick the pastry base all over with a fork. Line the pastry case with baking paper and rice and bake blind for 15 min at 180°C. 
   
   
   
   
6. Remove the paper and rice, brush the pastry case with egg wash and return to the oven for a further 8-10 min until the pastry case is cooked and golden brown at the edges. No, my almond-containing dough nightmare wasn't finished yet! When I removed the baking paper, the middle of the pastry case came attached to it. I almost cried! The dough was still soft so I used a spoon to flatten the dough back. You can tell where it was in the picture but it ended up working very well as after the egg wash and further baking the base was very solid.

   

   Patch in the middle

   
   

   

   With eggwash

   
   

   

   Baked after the egg wash

7. Trim off the rough edges and set the pastry case aside. leave in the tin for 10 min before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool.
   
8. Beat the amaretto into the cooled crème pâtissière and spread it in the cooled pastry case.
   
9. Arrange the apricots, cut side down, on top.
   
   
   
   
10. Make the glaze:
1. Warm the apricot jam and 1 tbsp amaretto in the saucepan until runny. I did not have apricot jam at home so I quickly made some. Paul asks for the jam and amaretto mixture to be passed through a sieve but I think that is a waste of time. The mixture can be easily used without leaving apricot jam bits on the apricots. 
   
   
   
   
2. Using a pastry brush, brush this mixture over the apricots to glaze.
   
11. If you like it, you can dust the tart with icing sugar and put it under a hot grill briefly to caramelise the apricots. By the time I finished the tart it was 10pm and we wanted our desert. To hell with the icing sugar!
12. The tart can be served with vanilla ice-cream.